Largest End Grain Butcher Block I have ever built. - Part of a Kitchen Remodel - PART 1

LARGEST END GRAIN BUTCHER BLOCK I'VE EVER ATTEMPTED - PART 1

KITCHEN REMODEL PROJECT (Video at bottom of post)

(Our sample to the client)

We are building a 10ftx48" Black Walnut end grain butcher block kitchen island for a kitchen remodel project for a client. It isn't the most technical job we've ever done but by far the most tedious, time consuming and nerve racking as end grain projects are much more likely to crack, twist, and fail in one way or another. Even small end grain butcher blocks can put your woodworking techniques to the test so a table this size will definitely make you sweat.

It also takes a lot of wood to build a butcher block counter top. If you aren't smart with your cuts, you can end up with a lot of waste especially if you are using large slabs with sometimes wild grain patterns, figure, knots, and the like. We spend time to use the material wisely by cutting only straight grain sections out of the slabs we are using and making sure the cutoffs we have left over can be used for other projects such as gunstock blanks and table legs. We are actually in the midst of making a custom pivot entry door entirely out of scrap hardwood sections from cutoffs on our projects which I can't wait to share with you! 

(What we start with)

In this project we are using black walnut slabs from our in house inventory that are 3" thick in the rough which allows us to have enough material to work with once we have flattened the material, glued it, flattened it, cut it glued it, and flattened it again! There is a lot of gluing and leveling to do in a project like this. Our goal is to end up with at least 1.75" thick once the top is completely finished. The thicker the better when dealing with end grain butcher blocks. We will also stabilize the bottom of the countertop with either black walnut or hardwood plywood for a sub frame that will be inlayed an inch into the bottom of the top and provide a lot of stability. 

 (Gluing Butcher Block Strips)

Check out part one in this series where we will take you from start to finish on this project. We commission all kinds of custom high end woodworking projects from ones like this to custom dining tables, sliding doors, desks, vanities, custom interior build outs and siding, shelving solutions, fireplace mantels and more. In the next post/video, we will show you how we go from straight grain butcher block to end grain, joining the entire thing into one large table and stabilizing the bottom. 

(End grain butcher block)

Our channel is brand new but we plan on engaging a lot more on YouTube so please follow us to stay in touch. We will either add to this blog post or create three new posts with videos on the progression of this kitchen remodel butcher block project so stay tuned to see the end result! 

Also, as a side note, we apologize for the amature video production. We aren't quite yet on the up and up with all of the captivating video editing quite yet:)